The Busia county health department and the Kenya Red Cross Society have administered the Covid-19 vaccine to 482 inmates at Korinda prison.
County Prisons Commander Omondi Adero said 451 male and 31 female convicts received the Covid-19 vaccine.
“The vaccination of the inmates will strengthen efforts towards the management of Covid-19 as well as allow the reintroduction of prison visits that were suspended in March 2020,” the officer in charge of the facility said.
Adero said most of the inmates have been psychologically affected by the suspension of prison visits.
Busia county coordinator for Expanded Programme on Immunisation Juliet Kilima said more than 30,000 residents have received the first and second jab of Covid-19 vaccine.
She said with support from other partners they are hopeful that by the end of December 2021, a total of 150,000 people will have been vaccinated.
“We appreciate efforts by the media and partners, including the Centre for International Health Education and Biosecurity, who have worked closely with the health department to encourage locals to come out for the Covid-19 jab. If people are vaccinated they will get herd immunity making it possible for the government to open up the economy,” she said.
She emphasized the need for locals who have not been vaccinated to visit the designated health facilities to get the jab, adding that the Busia health teams have also taken the vaccination campaigns to market centres and churches.
“We urge the people of Busia to come out in large numbers to be vaccinated considering that vaccines are available in various vaccination sites across the county,” Kilima said.
Inmates appealed to the national government to consider opening the prisons for public visits, stressing that the suspension of the visits has prevented them from seeing their relatives and other visitors.
“We are happy to have been vaccinated and hope that the government will allow our people to visit us in prison,” said Evans Wandera, whose remarks were echoed by his colleagues.
